A typical data storage system stores and retrieves data for one or more external client devices. Conventional data storage systems typically include a storage processor and an array of disk drives electrically coupled to the storage processor. The storage processor includes one or more ports, such as fibre channel ports, that allow the client devices to connect to the storage processor and is typically configured to perform load and store operations on the array of disk drives on behalf of the client devices.
Conventional data storage systems also allow the client devices to manage, monitor, and configure the data storage system according to a user's needs. For example, a client device can manage and monitor a CLARiiON™ data storage system, as produced by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass., using a first application such as the Navisphere Manager, also produced by EMC Corporation. The client device can also update, install, and maintain hardware and applications associated with the data storage system utilizing a second application, such as the Navisphere Service Taskbar (NST), as produced by EMC Corporation. While these management applications are related, the client device maintains the Navisphere Manager and the NST as separate applications. Such separation allows each application to be independently upgraded over time and across different updating schedules.